HHS: Nearly 3 Million People Visited Obamacare Marketplace On First Day

Nearly three million people have visited the federal health insurance marketplace created by Obamacare on its first day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Since midnight, 2.8 million people have visited the website, which will serve consumers in more than 30 states, and 81,000 have called the marketplace’s call center. Those numbers were current as of late Tuesday afternoon.

“We are certainly very pleased with the level of interest we’ve seen,” an HHS official said in a conference call with reporters. HHS would not, however, confirm how many people had actually enrolled for coverage.

That volume had also led to long load times and other glitches, as TPM reported earlier Tuesday. HHS officials assured reporters that those issues have largely been resolved, and users were experiencing fewer problems.

“People are able to start and finish the enrollment process,” an official said. Asked about one specific reported problem with creating an account on the site, the official said: “You should not have that issue now. Folks are signing up, and we’re pleased.”